Mayweather vs. Maidana 2: Undercard Highlights, Scorecards and Purse Info
As seems to be the case each year, Mayweather Promotions went all out to make boxing's marquee fall pay-per-view event a robust card with plenty of competitive action and a blend of up-and-coming and old faces alike.
In short, the Mayweather vs. Maidana 2 card mostly surpassed what was a vast array of expectations.
For some, the card was everything fans could ask for as the slate seemed sure to build toward the main event nicely, but for others, it seemed to be limited by budget restraints or a lack of willing participants.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
As ESPN.com's Dan Rafael noted beforehand, the undercard—on paper, of course—was relatively weak:
In the ring, though, fans were treated to hotly contested, mostly offensive-minded affairs (with a dash of controversy) that made for a memorable night before the main event even got underway—as the lineup was designed to do.
Here is how it all went down.
Mayweather vs. Maidana 2 Undercard Results
| John Molina vs. Humberto Soto | 10 rounds | Soto ($150,000), Molina ($125,000) | Soto via unanimous decision, 96-91, 95-92, 95-92 |
| Alfredo "El Perro" Angulo vs. James De La Rosa | 10 rounds | Angulo ($500,000), De La Rosa ($43,000) | De La Rosa via unanimous decision, 99-89, 98-90, 96-92 |
| Miguel "Titere" Vazquez vs. Mickey "The Spirit" Bey | IBF Lightweight World Championship | Vazquez ($450,000), Bey ($125,000) | Bey via split decision, 115-113, 119-109 Bey, 115-113 Vazquez |
| Leo "Terremoto" Santa Cruz vs. Manuel "Suavecito" Roman | WBC Super Bantamweight World Championship | Santa Cruz ($750,000), Roman ($50,000) | Santa Cruz via Round 2 KO |
Highlights
John Molina vs. Humberto Soto
In a rather strange turn of events, the folks in charge decided to give this one away for free on good old Showtime.
The hype for the showdown, best encapsulated by Eric Raskin of AllInMag.com, was palpable beforehand:
Let's just say that the strategy to give away this gem of a bout sold more than a few pay-per-views Saturday night.
Humberto Soto, a former title holder who entered on a streak of six straight wins, was pegged the underdog by most against the 31-year-old John Molina, who was not only much bigger but on a strong batch of momentum.
Molina had most recently suffered a vicious knockout at hands of Lucas Matthysse in one of the best matches of the year in April, but he showed early on why he was a favorite, as captured by ESPN.com's Brian Campbell:
Soto wound up getting knocked down at the end of the third round before the fight got ugly in the mid-rounds with a pair of low blows from Molina. As Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News notes, both fighters engaged in shots after the bell in a multitude of rounds as the fight progressed:
They also both engaged in a war of low blows. Molina was docked a point for a second low blow and later hit with a second point deduction on yet another, which then saw Soto start to aim below the equator, too.
By the late rounds after a pair of deductions, Molina needed a knockout to win. He wound up not getting it, as Soto's combinations continued to keep him at bay until the final round. Showtime posted the official scorecards shortly after the final bell:
So no, not a bad way to start the undercard—at all.
Alfredo "El Perro" Angulo vs. James De La Rosa
In a catchweight fight at 162 pounds, Alfredo "El Perro" Angulo returned to the ring and met James De La Rosa to kick off the pay-per-view portion of the night.
As a dangerous man who has knocked out 18 of his 22 opponents, Angulo was booked in the opening slot for good reason.
To say he did the opposite of what most expected to start the fight would be an understatement. BoxingMadMagazine illustrates his odd, early-fight approach well:
Angulo hit the mat at the end of the second round as a result. As it wore on, it was clear De La Rosa came out motivated and much better than expected, but it certainly did not help that Angulo looked like an over-the-hill competitor at best.
A four-punch combo opened up Angulo in the sixth round as the trend continued. Campbell offered a sobering perspective on his overall outlook:
But then, a light seemed to come on for Angulo, and he rallied in a major way over the course of the final three rounds.
Indeed, the outcome was very suddenly up in the air, as NFL.com's Mark E. Ortega muses:
De La Rosa, seemingly a bit luckily, managed to avoid the onslaught and hold on for the decision. Afterward, Rafael provided the scorecard:
In the end, the numbers showed that De La Rosa seemed to get a bit gassed as he took a quantity-over-quality approach. He threw 816 punches to Angulo's 686, but he still managed to land 5 percent more, hence the easy job for the judges.
Miguel "Titere" Vazquez vs. Mickey "The Spirit" Bey
For Miguel "Titere" Vazquez, Saturday night was a way to bring his lengthy title reign out of the realm of the relatively unknown.
Fighting a member of the Money Team tends to do that for anyone.
For Mickey "The Spirit" Bey, it was a chance to stop underachieving. Taking down a champion has a way of doing that for anyone.
Vazquez jumped out to an early, obvious advantage by landing more than 50 percent of his power punches through three rounds. As Gautham Nagesh of WSJ.com notes, though, plenty of hugging and defensive styles started to rustle the crowd in Las Vegas:
"Small crowd getting v. restless during Mickey Bey vs Miguel Vazquez. Vazquez is crafty enough to handle Bey's speed, Bey lacks 2nd dimension
— Gautham Nagesh (@gnagesh) September 14, 2014"
As the match wore on, a certain segment of observers did note that Bey seemed to be holding his own and controlling the pace of the match a bit through his style.
Douglass Fischer of RingTV.com nicely foreshadowed the difficult judging job ahead:
Indeed, the judges wound up being the most interesting thing about the fight.
As Rafael records, Bey stole the strap and ended Vazquez's lengthy reign via controversial split decision:
That 119-109 mark is what seemed to draw the ire of most. While an ugly bout, it seemed apparent that the fight was either too close to call or in the champion's favor.
Leo "Terremoto" Santa Cruz vs. Manuel "Suavecito" Roman
Champion Leo "Terremoto" Santa Cruz stepped into the ring Saturday night with former sparring partner Manuel "Suavecito" Roman the heavy favorite.
That experience seemed set to put the champ over the top in the co-feature of the night, as a quote from beforehand (via Gabriel Montoya of LeaveitintheRingRadio.com) hinted:
Roman looked comfortable in the first round, but he threw just 15 punches to Cruz's 30.
In the second, he bit the mat to end the match.
For fans, the abrupt end did little to wash away the sour taste the previous fight had left in their mouths. SI.com's Chris Mannix captured the mood well:
Predictable or not, the night's final clash before the main event was a necessary one that wound up giving fans more offense after what came before it was a defensive-minded affair.
It may not go down as the best undercard in history, but those who invested in the pay-per-view got a solid night of action before the main attraction.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
